It’s crisp. It’s buttoned. And it’s been a badge of pride for generations of Mods, Skinheads and Soul Boys. Few shirts carry the kind of cultural weight that Ben Sherman does – a brand that managed to walk the line between rebellion and refinement, and still look sharp doing it.
American roots
Despite its very British reputation, Ben Sherman actually started out with American roots. Founder Arthur Benjamin Sugarman was born in Brighton but moved to the US in the 1940s. After marrying an American and anglicising his name to “Ben Sherman,” he returned to England and set up shop in 1963.
Inspired by the crisp Ivy League look he saw across the pond – button-down collars, box pleats, and back-hanger loops — Sherman began producing his version of the classic Oxford shirt. Only this time, with a more fitted cut and bolder colours. British lads took notice.
The Mod uniform
By the mid-’60s, Ben Sherman had become the go-to shirt for Mods. The sharp collar sat neatly under a suit jacket or Harrington, and the clean tailoring matched the scene’s obsession with looking proper. It was more than just a shirt – it was part of the Mod uniform.
It wasn’t just a shirt – it was part of the Mod uniform.
Mods weren’t just buying into a style; they were buying into identity. Scooter boys, Soul dancers, Northern Soul heads – they all found common ground in a shirt that said, “I take pride in how I look.”
Skinheads & soul
As the late ’60s rolled into the rougher, grittier early ’70s, the shirt made another transition. First-generation Skinheads adopted the Ben Sherman with equal enthusiasm. Worn with jeans, braces, and polished boots, it was still about looking clean — just with a harder edge.
Skinhead style always had a foot in Mod culture and another in working-class pride. Ben Sherman fit both worlds. It looked sharp on the dancefloor, but didn’t look out of place at the factory gates either. Over time, the shirt’s meaning evolved. By the ’80s, it was no longer just about subculture — it was about nostalgia too. Casuals wore it. Indie kids wore it. Even Britpop bands brought it back into the spotlight.
Today, Ben Sherman is stocked in shopping centres and worn by blokes who might not know the name of a single Trojan record. But in the right hands, the shirt still means something. A nod to sharpness. A quiet salute to heritage. A link in the chain.
The Ben Sherman shirt isn’t just stitched into the fabric of British fashion — it’s sewn deep into subcultural history. Clean, buttoned-up, and with more attitude than a wardrobe full of slogans, it’s one of the few shirts that says as much about who you are as how you look.
Sources: Sapeur-osb.de | No Debutante | Instagram
Disclaimer: This article is an independent editorial and is not affiliated with or sponsored by Ben Sherman. All opinions expressed are our own.